Taiwanese American Film Festival

04/22/2021

To all the fathers in the world trying to raise kids while working on your next audition, we hear you – this convo is for you.

Join Carlin James ("Better Call Saul", "Always Sunny in Philadelphia"), Yoshi Sudarso ("Buffalo Boys", "Power Rangers: Dino Charge"), Leonard Wu ("Ghosts of Tsushima", "Marco Polo"), and moderator Anthony Ma ("Scandal", "S.W.A.T.") as we hear what life is like as fathers in the entertainment industry.

Held only on the FAM app and brought to you by The Great Company and Taiwanese American Film Festival

EVENT LINK HERE:

Join their talks Anthony Ma, Leonard Wu

04/07/2021

We all know the tragic story behind the Vincent Chin case - how a young Chinese American man's murder and the lenient sentence of his two white killers sent Asian Americans into an uproar and galvanized the community.

But do we know the details? Are we getting the full picture? Who are the individuals and what choices were made to construct this pivotal moment in civil rights history?

Thoroughly researched from trial transcripts, archives, and in-person interviews with friends, activists and key contributors of the case - join filmmakers Anthony Ma & Alle Hsu in an encore discussion moderated by Carl Choi as they uncover details, compare parallels with today, and illuminate the individuals that shaped Vincent Chin's legacy.

In collaboration with Standwithasians & The Great Company, the discussion will be held on Thursday April 8th at 8pm PST only on the Fam app, available for both Android & iPhone users.

Click http://bit.ly/31Sanwg to download the app & for more details!

01/22/2021

Go TAFF alum Jsf Hsu! Congrats on your worldwide Netflix release for BIG LITTLE WOMEN!

Many of us say we would love to experience great films from around world. As B**g Joon-Ho calls it ‘the 1 inch tall barrier of subtitles scares many

10/24/2020

Hey lovely TAFF community, our first panel is gonna start in 5 minutes! Join us today for a fabulous day event (while staying in your comfy sofa!) Get your day pass, vote for your favorite film, and don't forget to use the discount code FANDF https://www.bingewave.com/f/taff-2020
See you at our virtual theater!

TAFF is a community of filmmakers highlighting unique stories in Taiwanese cinema and equipping emerging filmmakers for their next project, no matter the size. The festival will serve its fourth year ...

10/23/2020

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TAFF 2020
KINDRED (家）
10/24
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KEYNOTE SPEECH & FEATURE FILM CLOSING PROGRAM
7PM
LYNN CHEN

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Join us for our closing program with actor, director, host & spokesperson Lynn Chen, who's been part of the TAFF 家 since year 1! 😍

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Lynn Chen has a 3-decade career that includes acting in over 50 TV/Film credits, audiobooks ("Crazy Rich Asians”), video games (Activision's “Call of Duty” series), singing (The Metropolitan Opera), and hosting non-scripted videos/podcasts (BuzzFeed, Tastemade) that have seen over 30 million views. She made her movie debut in Sony Pictures Classics’ "Saving Face," a role that won her the title of "Outstanding Newcomer" at the 2006 AXAwards. Since then, she has become a fixture on the film festival circuit - including Sundance, Toronto, Tribeca, SXSW - setting an unofficial record at the 28th LAAPFF with five concurrent movie roles. Lynn won "Best Actor" at the 2016 NBC Shorts Fest and a holding deal with NBC. She is featured in Variety’s 2020 “Power of Women” Issue.

Lynn has been a spokesperson for The National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) since 2012 and is currently an Ambassador for Miry’s List. She founded the award-winning blogs/podcasts “The Actor’s Diet” and “Thick Dumpling Skin” (the first site dedicated to Asian-Americans and eating disorders).  She has been featured on NPR, Cosmopolitan, and Marie Claire Magazine and has been a speaker at various colleges (Stanford, Dartmouth, Wellesley), conferences (WonderCon), and festivals (Disneyland California Adventure Food & Wine) for her body image activism.

Lynn recently starred in the feature film "Go Back to China," which premiered at SXSW in 2019. Recent TV credits include a recurring role on SHO’s “Shameless,” HBO's "Silicon Valley," CBS' "Seal Team," and AMC's "Fear the Walking Dead." Lynn’s directorial debut, which she also wrote, produced, & starred in - "I Will Make You Mine" - is the 3rd sequel to the "Surrogate Valentine" series.

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10/23/2020

TAFF 2020 — Tomorrow! 10/24
Join us ONLINE
KINDRED (家）
10/24
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Thank you to our TAFF community for the support over the years! We're excited for another year strong of staying connected and inspired with our virtual festival for 2020. Our theme this year is KINDRED – there's the family you're born with, then the family you choose, and we are so thankful to have an awesome film family we can take with us wherever we go. Our films this year share more of this kindred spirit in the themes of connection, brokenness, healing, and much more. We hope you can join us this year and stay connected!

Check out our full lineup & program for all the details including –

13 SHORT FILMS
LIVE Q&As
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD
KEYNOTE SPEECH BY LYNN CHEN
EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE FEATURE FILM

See you there!

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
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Taiwanese American Film Festival 2020

10/23/2020

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TAFF 2020

KINDRED (家）
10/24

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OPENING PANEL
1PM
Joan Huang
Chris Au
Jay Chern


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Join us for our opening panel where we will hear from 3 Taiwanese powerhouses and learn about their upbringings and how it has influenced their films.

Joan Huang has produced several critically acclaimed independent films and award winning documentaries through her company Cherry Sky Films. Film credits include AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY: THE EVOLUTION OF GRACE LEE BOGG, an award winning documentary about the life of the Chinese American activist at the heart of the civil rights movement; A SMALL ACT, which was selected as one of 2010’s best documentaries by Roger Ebert and broadcast on HBO; IN THE REALMS OF THE UNREAL by Academy Award winning director Jessica Yu; and Justin Lin’s feature narrative BETTER LUCK TOMORROW which was acquired by MTV films at its 2002 Sundance premiere. 

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Christopher Au is an award-winning filmmaker and digital media leader. Au created and directed the short-form scripted series Bulge Bracket on Amazon Prime Video, about a young woman who navigates the frat house of Wall Street, played by Taiwanese American actress Jessika Van . He serves on the Board of Directors at the Center for Asian American Media.
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Jay Chern completed his thesis short film “Thief” that won best short film at the Taipei Golden Horse Awards, best director at the Golden Bell, best Asian short at Tokyo’s Short Shorts Film Festival. In 2014 wrote, directed and shot his first television feature Dawn / Spring which was nominated for 6 Golden Bell awards including best picture and best director. 2016 began co-production on his first theatrical feature Omotenashi with the renowned Shochiku Studios of Japan—selected as opening film for the 42nd Hong Kong International Film Festival, and released theatrically in Taiwan and Japan. In 2018 he scripted the racing feature Nezha, executive produced by Jay Chou which will be released after 2020.

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10/22/2020

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TAFF 2020
KINDRED (家）
10/24
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SHORT BLOCK 2 —
4p PT
Isaac
Directed by Ja-Ann Wang

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Logline:
A kid from Queens tries landing his first hip hop gig in NYC, but must decide at what cost. 

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Ja-Ann Wang has worked as a sound editor for six years assisting on films from a Spotlight to Ocean’s 8. As a storyteller, she brings her perspective as a Taiwanese American who grew up in a mostly white neighborhood in the New York suburbs. ISAAC is her second short film.

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"Being a filmmaker isn’t as rosy as I imagined it to be and there isn’t a clear cut career path—I’ve fallen on my face many times and learned many hard lessons. I hope ISAAC inspires young Asian-Americans to keep pursuing their creative dreams, even when they fail, and even when it’s by a zigzag route."

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Family Photo 1: 
BTS from the set of "ISAAC"
Incredible cast and crew: Filipino, Japanese, Laotian, Taiwanese, Indonesian, Chinese, Korean, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and allies!

Family Photo 2:
Older sister Ja-Rei, Ja-Ann (Director), and younger twin brothers Ja-Hon and Ja-Way in peak 90’s fashion 

Family Photo 3:
Wang family with A Gong (grandpa) in Tainan

Family Photo 4:
Family quintet - 3 violinists, 2 cellists

Family Photo 5:
NaiNai (grandma), older sister, and Ja-Ann (Director) on the Long Island sound

Family Photo 6:
Childhood summers in Taiwan

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10/22/2020

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TAFF 2020
KINDRED (家）
10/24
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SHORT BLOCK 2 —
4p PT
Tammy
Directed by Andrew T. Horng

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Logline:
When an Asian-American skateboarder, who’s either stereotyped or ignored by everyone in her life, is invited to a skateboarding contest, her rare opportunity to shine is ruined by the presence of another Asian-American skateboarder.

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Andrew T. Horng is an award-winning, writer/director/producer based in Los Angeles. His working credits include stints on “Malcolm in the Middle,” “Prison Break,” “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,” “House, M.D.” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” He also contributes advice to the Film Courage channel on YouTube. 

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"“TAMMY” was the craziest production I’ve ever been a part of. There was only 1 week of prep. We shot the film in just 1.5 days. Looking back... I am so grateful to have gone through that chaos. In the end, we were able to come out of it with a truly unique, Asian-American film that touched upon several more matters. Invisibility. Hatred. Identity. Superficiality.

As for filming, I decided to shoot this story about race in black & white, mainly due to how viewers tend to judge the look. These days, the majority of films are in color and unfortunately black & white ones are treated differently. Even though a story is a story no matter what it looks like, some folks just don’t give black & white films the same chance as ones in color."

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Family Photo 1:
1st year of t-ball for a 6-year-old Andrew

Family Photo 2:
A college-aged Andrew at a restaurant in the early 2000s with his brothers Felix & Eric, his sister-in-law Joy, and his parents Wayne & Show-jen Horng (associate producers of "Tammy").

Family Photo 3:
A college-aged Andrew at a graduation ceremony in the early 2000s with his brothers Felix & Eric, his sister-in-law Joy, and his parents Wayne & Show-jen Horng (associate producers of "Tammy").

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10/22/2020

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TAFF 2020
KINDRED (家）
10/24
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SHORT BLOCK 2 —
4p PT
Stranger Dreams
Directed by Yu Wei Lin

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Logline:
Everyone dreams. Among all the dreams, nightmares are the most uncomfortable ones. There are three nightmares in the story: The fear and darkness of a certain space; the fear of death in a touchable reality; the fear of invisible things that happen in life. In the world we are living in, what’s the most terrifying thing?


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Yu Wei Lin is a director who has been living and developing his career with his wife and three kids in LA for 6 years. He made this film during the quarantine due to covid-19. He wants to remind people that visible, touchable fears aren’t the scariest ones. The invisible ones are.

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In a melting pot like the US, Yu Wei Lin realizes that asian groups have been struggling with interpersonal relationships like the three dreams in the story. Immigrants who thought they could find a sense of belonging from the groups, are actually worried and anxious about the unknown environment instead. The most disappointing thing is, man’s greediness and ignorance are still growing, not to mention the virus that has caused so many deaths. Lin hopes everyone could wake up from this nightmare soon. Until then, there will be a better tomorrow waiting for us.

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Film Stills and Director photo by Yu Wei Lin

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10/21/2020

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TAFF 2020

KINDRED (家）
10/24


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SHORT BLOCK 2 —
4p PT

Second Parent

Directed by Penny Pin-jung Chen


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Logline:
When Kat's wife Julia returns to work, Kat assumes the role of the stay-at-home mom, but she soon starts to worry she'll never be close with her daughter when Becca shows signs of preferring Julia over her. She begins to attribute these feelings to the fact that Julia is Becca's birth mother. Kat's fears only deepen when her brother Dylan, who is Becca's s***m donor, seems to have an instant connection to Becca that she feels she is lacking.


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Penny Pin-jung Chen is a recent graduate of USC School of Cinematic Arts Film & TV Production MFA program. As a female q***r director, she’s passionate about telling LGBTQ and women-centered stories, hoping to break the barrier between the society and the marginalized people in her films.

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“Three years ago I started interviewing le***an couples with kids in the LA area for a short documentary. It was during these interviews that I met the family that went on to inspire this short film. The way they created their family fascinated me and I was deeply moved to hear them recount how insecure they were in their abilities as a mother. This is a unique family story but universal in a lot of ways. While these insecurities were quite unfounded, I found them to parallel the same fears found in many families, and I think it's important to share this story to the world."

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Family Photo:
"My family and my girlfriend’s family came support me at the Taiwan International Q***r Film Festival for the world premiere of Second Parent. Me and Rena are in the middle."

Film Stills by Penny Chen
Family Photo by Yuhan Lin

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***rdirector

10/21/2020

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TAFF 2020

KINDRED (家）
10/24


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SHORT BLOCK 2 —
4p PT

Bai Bai

Directed by Andrew Heitzman


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Logline:
Bai Bai is the story of Chih-Wei, a kid who wants nothing more than to go to University, but whose father forces him to follow in his family's footsteps and go into the military. Four years later, Chih-Wei returns home for the first time and discovers that his father has died. Now, he has to make amends with his past, or leave his family name behind forever.

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Andrew was born and raised outside Chicago, but when he came to New York for school in 2014, he was introduced to a whole new world of cultures and experiences.
On his first day of classes, he met future-Producer Alvin Lee, and their friendship would spark in Andrew a deep love of Taiwanese history and culture that culminated in the making of Bai Bai.

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“Bai Bai is an effort to collaborate with the young Taiwanese and Taiwanese-American filmmakers who are picking up where the last generation left off. I had the privilege to tell a story that at the same time felt incredibly intimate to me, yet was also influenced by the lives of people who lived halfway around the world from where I grew up.
The experience of working collaboratively across an ocean invigorated my passion for Taiwanese cinema, and has me incredibly excited for the next project."

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Family Photo Caption 1:
Writer/Director Andrew Heitzman -- around 10-years-old with mom, dad, & younger sister
"My parents always made sure to support my sister and I in whatever made us curious. This photo was after one of my sister’s first dance recitals. Her excitement is obvious. That support is what eventually gave me the confidence to pursue a project like Bai Bai."

Family Photo Caption 2:
Actor Yu-Hsin (Ethan) Lin, who plays Chih-Wei in 'Bai Bai', with his family in Taiwan.

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